What should I realistically expect to see with my SkyWatcher 130p AZ GOTO....?

[Blurred Image]

This forum has some excellent posts re; colour filters. Just do a search and you'll find plenty of info.

N.

[bendiddley]

sounds like you had a whole mix of things that were against you, but i'm glad you came here to ask before getting rid of it. judging by peoples comments you've got lots of positive stuff to take away with you. i couldn't have got where i am in astronomy with out using this site, keep using it every time you get stuck on something the members on it will give you everything you need to know. good luck!

[stem1989]

Sorry to hear you have had so much trouble, Magnification isn't everything, I have had very sharp views of jupiter in an 80mm refractor at about 80x using a barlow, but you have to let your eyes adapt, I think everyone develops a different way of looking through eyepieces which is best for them, I try to look 'through' the object and it reveals small details. I have a 127 mak with higher magnification also and planets are much 'bigger' but I only see detail when I start to stack in registax. Keep at it, its frustrating at times but when it works its great! Good luck

[silverman166]

UPDATE

Sadly, the weather has not been conducive to viewing at all recently, so I took the opportunity to look at the 'scope itself. I started by researching collimation, and found that the primary mirror required centring, which I did quite easily. Whilst doing this I noticed the mirror was dusty, and decided after due consideration to remove and clean it.

Having worked with optical microscopes for much of my working life (I was a metallurgist in the steel industry which involved polishing flat steel specimens to a mirror finish before observing them microscopically), and being keen on photography, I wasn't too daunted by this task, and found that gently blowing the dust away, breathing on the lens, allowing the resultant 'mist' to dry , (aided by gentle blowing) then wiping lightly with selvyt cloth, all repeated a few times, helped a lot.

One stubborn mark, which at first I feared was a scratch, at the outer edge of the mirror withstood this treatment, so I gingerly used a small amount of iso-propyl alcohol (IPA) on a clean part of the selvyt cloth, gently wiping over the mark several times, and fortunately it disappeared. Minor smearing resulting from a tiny amount of water contained within the IPA was removed using the breathing, drying and gentle wiping technique previously described.

I took the opportunity to remove dust from within the 'scope tube while the mirror was out, and also had a go at the secondary mirror using the same technique.

After replacing the primary mirror, it was still found to be centred OK, as I had hoped.

Whether or not I've done any harm remains to be seen, but hopefully not.

I'm now eagerly awaiting a clear night!!

[northwalesparry]

Hi Silverman,

I have the 130/900, no goto just motor drive, and have had it for over a year now and found it to be a great starter scope. As stated previously check the the collimation before considering getting rid. Just dont expect hubble type veiws, planets will be bright discs with faint detail and DSO fuzzies will be just that, fuzzy grey patches, but when you find one you will get a buzz.

I've attached some photos I've taken on my webcam, admitedly they're slightly better than what you'll see physically but you'll get the jist.

All the best

Sully

i have the same scope and mount as you i think, did you use xbox cam for these picsand which software. cheers phil

[tingting44]

Hi mate i have the same setup as you, with a dslr shoved in the focuser and these are the recent images i have got through the same setup as yours not bad considering, just get use to your scope and learn to colllimate and your be away

less then 1 minute AVI

MVI_3957 1st time!!! (498 frames stacked - WAVELETS & PS done) ADDED INFO for moons by tingting44, on Flickr

images stacked

Final best {202 images} by tingting44, on Flickr

Orion nebula (well the core) only 4 subs less then 1 min of data and no darks so quite noisy but you get the idea of what can be had with this scope

Latest stack(4) attempt of M43-M43 (JPEG for WEBSITES) by tingting44, on Flickr

hope this helps, imo you got a good starter setup there to learn the ropes and see where you want to progress to in the future

Martin

[Matt Scunthorpe]

Sadly, the weather has not been conducive to viewing at all recently, so I took the opportunity to look at the 'scope itself. I started by researching collimation, and found that the primary mirror required centring, which I did quite easily. Whilst doing this I noticed the mirror was dusty, and decided after due consideration to remove and clean it.

Just for future reference, dust etc on the mirror wont take anything at all away from the views you'll get. But as you know what your doing with them its nice to have them clean i stay well away from anything too technical with my scope lol.

[silverman166]

Finally got a decent night, went outside with the scope and got decent views of Jupiter - managed to make out the bands after a while!

Thanks to you all for your encouragement and advice - I think I'm well and truly hooked!

Next step I think will be the purchase of a webcam - my reading so far suggests that using my dslr with the scope would be too expensive at present, with no 'guarantee' of success.

[nephilim]

Glad u finally got a good night, i think ur right to go down the webcam route, a DSLR on your mount may be a bit tricky, I use a modded X-Box cam & its great 2 use once u get the hang of it, any questions u have feel free 2 ask & i'l help in any way I can.

[Bat502]

Finally got a decent night, went outside with the scope and got decent views of Jupiter - managed to make out the bands after a while!

Thanks to you all for your encouragement and advice - I think I'm well and truly hooked!

Next step I think will be the purchase of a webcam - my reading so far suggests that using my dslr with the scope would be too expensive at present, with no 'guarantee' of success.

Good to see you`re getting better views now with the scope. I would say, viewing Jupiter at that time in the morning (5.15am) is probably not the best time to do it at this time of year. I have just upgraded to a 250PX because I was so impressed with my 130P that I have recently sold. I had some cracking views especially when I upgraded my eyepieces to the BST 5mm & 8mm, so I would leave the filters for now.

[skward]

I've just bought this telescope too - I love it! The Skywatcher 130P really does perform well! Great pictures by the way, Sully. I love this telescope so much, I am building a review of it at

<a href="http://www.skywatcher130p.com">Skywatcher 130P Review</a>

[skward]

Skywatcher 130P Review - Sorry, link above didn't work.

[TomOb2603]

Hi, Iv a Skywatcher 130 & managed to gett his

by putting a £5 webcam without its lense into the scopes focuser (bit complicated but im just trying to show u the great things ur scope can do with a bit of research) you wont see jupiter like this thru the actual scope but it will be like that on the laptop screen) you've got a great starter scope & if you put some time into it, im sure you'll see you bought quite well.

Hi, nephilim, i all have just unpacked a new Skywatcher 130, so how would you go about putting a webcam into the focuser, and what webcams would fit it

[nephilim]

Hi again, i just bought a £5 xbox webcam of ebay, it needs to be modified using this tutorial http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/131246-xbox-livecam-mod-cliff/page__st__820__hl__+cliffs%20+webcam#entry1626457 beware!! Its a REALLLLLYYYYYYYY long thread, the first few pages will tell u most of what u need to know. The xbox cam isnt fantastic but its a good start for the price & will give u the practise you'll need to track the image on screen. A much better webcam is the Philips spc900, altho these are discontinued u can pick them up on fleabay now & again BUT they aint cheap (£50-£70+) Good luck & any questions just ask.

Steve